Finding America
by Linda Chicana
Summary: Tony would not approve. Not at all. He despises everything old fashioned and this man is certainly old fashioned. I like Mr. Steve Rogers, he understands me. Love, such a fickle thing it is. But it makes weak people like me strong.
1. Chapter 1

Anthony Edward Stark also known as Ironman. He's known all across the world. He's the adorable boy that turned into a handsome man. He's the multi billionaire genius. He's a superhero. Women want him and men want to be him. Women usually get him. He can create anything you could ever imagine. Cocky, selfish, and exceedingly arrogant. That's how many people would describe him. And, in many cases, they would be right. He _is_ sometimes cocky. He _can_ be selfish at times. And, quite frankly, he _has_ a reason to be arrogant.

But there's another side of him that few have been given the privilege to see. He can be gentle and caring. He can put another's well being above his own. He can help you with everything he can. House you, take care of you, comfort you. He is, in fact, capable of actually acting like a normal human being and not some crazy genius that does everything on a whim. You know how I know this? Well I've known him for… Hmm, let's see. Twenty years? And just why is it that Tony has let me see this side of him? Well it's simple really. He's my big brother.

Yes, Tony Stark has a younger sister. Shocking isn't it? I'm not very well known by most of the world despite my heritage. I'm not a genius like my father and brother is (or was in my father's case). I'm not drop dead sexy. And I'm most definitely not a superhero or affiliated with anything vaguely superhero esque. I'm not tall like my brother; I'm 5'3 while he's 5'11. I'm not physically fit, I'm a bit squishy. And I most certainly do not have anyone even remotely interested in me. I do have the signature black hair of all Starks though, that I do have.

Now you're probably wondering, 'what the hell? Why do I have to listen to this little nobody if she has nothing interesting about her going on?' Don't roll your eyes; I know you were thinking that. But don't worry; I'll get to that in a minute. So where was I? Oh right, well you see I've always been in my brother's shadow, the same way my mother was always in my father's. No one cares about the females in the Stark family. Why should they? We're just related to (or married to) a few of the smartest and most successful people in the world. But you see we didn't really mind at all.

To everyone else in the world Howard and Anthony Stark were the best things to happen to the technological world. But to my mother, Howard was her husband and Anthony was her son. To me Howard was my father and Anthony wasn't Anthony. Anthony was Tony, my big brother. My hero. My knight in freaking shining armor! He was someone I could always go to. Someone who loved me, and actually said so. We didn't play together like normal siblings would. Tony was always so busy trying to live up to our father's expectations. He advanced in engineering and physics from the very beginning. But being a genius wasn't enough for our dad though.

I think that's why Tony is the way he is now. A genius billionaire playboy philanthropist. But he's still my Tony. He's still the one that would visit me regularly in the hospital when I got to sick to stay at home. The one that would patiently guide me through my homework. The one that took care of me when our mother died and our father was to busy to care. The one that made a super computer dubbed JARVIS to not only help him with all his needs but to help with all my needs too.

You see, I was born with a weak heart which, consequently, made the rest of my body weak. I can't exert myself in anyway. If I do it becomes hard for me to breathe and I'll eventually end up passing out. My immune system is, like the rest of me, weak so I'm susceptible to every sickness. The common cold feels like pneumonia to me. As you can imagine I was rarely ever let out. The doctors said that this odd defect would kill me, that it was already doing so slowly, and that I would only live to be ten. As a result I've practically lived in a bubble my entire life. My parents were so worried that if I took so much as a single step outside I would drop dead. And because of this my best friend, besides Tony, is JARVIS. Sad I know.

But honestly, if you were stuck inside all day everyday with no other human interaction besides the occasional hello from a parent or late night chat from your brother and was given a super computer that could talk, wouldn't the computer be your best friend too? No? Well then… Ahem, anyway. With my sickness I've rarely ever interacted with any _real_ person. So, I guess you can say I'm a little socially retarded. I don't know how to talk to people. And, because my mom instilled being polite into my mind from an early age my default to this is being polite, overly so. I don't speak unless spoken to, I don't talk back, and I hardly ever say what's on my own mind. Tony says I'm outdated. Maybe he's right.

But everything's been changing for me lately. Or rather something big has impacted my life recently. And I have no idea what to do. I can't ask Tony for advice, he'll only give me vague answers and crude joke that flies right over my head (if Pepper's barely contained snort of laughter is anything to go by). And I can't ask Pepper because even though she's my brother's girlfriend/assistant/CEO of Stark Industries (or whatever it is she does) doesn't make _us_ friends therefore I can't ask her. Besides, I hardly think Tony would approve of my sudden predicament. No. Tall, lightly tanned, blue eyed, body of a model Steve Rogers would not bode well with my brother. Not at all. I wonder if JARVIS could give me some advice…


	2. Chapter 2

It's unusually quiet today. The sounds of Pepper and Tony's "happy time" aren't sounding throughout the building. I don't know if that's a good or bad thing. On one hand they could be simply content with simply being with each other or they are tired from their activities last night. On the other hand they're building up some sexual tension and will soon be "going at it" as Tony sometimes says. "Miss Emma, perhaps you would like to go on your daily walk now." Ah, it seems the latter has happened. "Would you care to accompany me JARVIS?" I asked as I made my way to my closet to change.

"Certainly Miss Emma." He replied in his somewhat monotone voice. Truthfully I don't actually need to ask JARVIS to go with me; he has a router to my phone and would follow me whether or not I wanted him to. But it's always nice to pretend he's an actual person, though I really do think he's developing his own consciousness. Well, either that or Tony's been making upgrades on him so that he can interact better with me since he's my only friend… I'll just believe JARVIS is his own person and has bonded to me.

I pulled out a light pink medium sleeved shirt, white jeans, and my black ballet flats. I grabbed my phone and made my way out my room and toward the elevator. Loud thumps sounded above my head and I sighed. It seems Tony and Pepper are being rough today. I'll have to extend my walk to three hours, maybe more. Stepping inside the elevator I pushed the ground floor button and began to wonder where I would wander to today. "JARVIS…" I began. "Yes Miss Emma?" I pulled on a stray lock of hair framing my face, "Is there any place we can go to that Tony wouldn't go to?"

"I'll try to find someplace for you Miss Emma." I smiled faintly, "Thank you JARVIS." Finally the elevator ceased its descent and chimed before opening up to let me out. This Stark Tower isn't as heavily populated with employees like the one in Miami. Maybe it's because Tony actually lives here. The top five floors Tony converted into housing. I think he did that so that he could be closer to his work so that his projects don't get leaked out like they did a couple years ago. The only person I see regularly is the guard stationed behind the desk near the entrance.

He's a kind older man; he's also one of the few who know about me. He smiled kindly at me once he saw me and I waved in greeting. "Have a nice walk Emma." He said. I smiled at him, "Thank you Mr. Perkins." I left the large building and began my usual walk around the city of Manhattan, New York. As per usual it was a clear day and everywhere around me people were scrambling about. Many chattered on cell phones, held numerous coffees, shopping bags. And all seemed like they had a place they needed to be at. In this aspect I felt a little left out.

I don't have friends to call, or bosses to bring coffee to, or a need to shop. And the only place I seemed to be wanted at is with Tony. But even then he's consumed in his projects or pampering Pepper for all the years she stood by him and worked for him. Was there no place where I could go to? Where I could learn to be somebody people wanted? "Miss Emma?" I blinked out of my daze, "Yes JARVIS?" My phone lit up as JARVIS displayed his find, "I've found a place for you to reside at while Mr. Stark and Ms. Potts are busy." Well it certainly didn't look like something Tony would look twice at.

"A gym JARVIS?" I asked quietly. "Yes Miss Emma, Mr. Stark has voiced his dislike for old styled gyms like this. He prefers his personal gym to anything public and obsolete such as this." Yes that's true. Tony doesn't like to be around profusely sweating people. And he certainly hates anything that isn't up to date with the latest technologies. He thinks it's absurd to be around such time consuming things when he has the equipment to get faster results. But perhaps this is just what I need. I have been trying to build up my endurance and stamina so that I can do more things like a normal person. Maybe working in this older style gym rather than the advanced one Tony likes is better for me.

"Where's this at JARVIS?" The screen to my phone faded back to black, "On the corner of 39th Street Miss Emma." I glanced up at the nearest street sign to find that I only had a few more blocks to go until I found this gym. "Very well then JARVIS; let's have a look at it." I followed the sea of people surrounding me until I reached 39th Street then broke away to begin my search. Once I found it, however, I simply stood in front of the building and stared. What if someone was inside? What if they asked what I wanted? What I was doing in their gym? Do I just tell them what I wanted or is that rude? Though they would have asked so I guess it wouldn't be rude. But what if they think it's rude? Then what could I do?

I pulled on my hair nervously and bit my lip, horrible nervous ticks that I just can't get rid of. "Perhaps another time, I mean surely Tony and Pepper are done by now right?" I mumbled and turned to leave. I only took about five steps before I turned right back around and stood back in front of the building. "Okay JARVIS, let's do this." JARVIS didn't reply as I gripped the door handle and slowly opened the door. It let out a creak as I opened it, making me wince, and I poked my head inside. I frowned and pushed the door fully open. Empty? I was scared about an empty gym?

There was a boxing ring in the middle of the room and at either side of the room there were work out stations. On the far back wall was an old faded mural of two people boxing and fans cheering on the sidelines. What an odd little place, no one here, perfectly useable, like a scene plucked straight out of the past and preserved here. I walked toward the boxing ring and saw that on the floor of it there were faint scuff marks all around from the matches it once held.

Out of the corner of my eye I caught sight of a slightly ajar door and wandered over to it. I pushed the door open and blinked at the flight of stairs it hid. There was a second floor? Well then let's see what else this place has. I began my descent and wondered why this place didn't have anyone besides me in it. But then faint thumps drifted up to me once I was neared the middle of the flight. I froze, trying to understand this out of place sound. But then it clicked, there _was_ someone here!

What'll I do if they saw me? Oh I should just leave now! But… Well maybe just seeing who's down there wouldn't hurt. I'll just peek around the edge of the stairs, satisfy my curiosity, and be on my way. Whom ever is down there needn't know I was ever here. I nodded to myself, committing myself to the idea. Once I reached the bottom of the steps I crouched down and cautiously let my head poke around the corner. I panned my eyes over the area quickly and found a single man furiously attacking a punching bag.

He wore a white tank top and had a pair of black sweats on. I could see his rippling muscles all the way across the room even with my vision slightly obscured from the wall I was hiding behind. I judged him to be around 6'2 in height, give or take a couple inches. He had short brown hair and though he was muscled, he wasn't overly so. His body was proportioned just right. My face began to heat up at my thoughts. Am I ogling this man? No! Of course not! How absurd! I caught sight of a pile of…punching bags? What the?

He had at least several of them lying on the floor just beside him. Now why on Earth would he need so many punching bags? Isn't one enough? The man cocked his right arm back and swung forward with such ferocity that he snapped the chain of the punching bag and it fell to the floor with a loud 'thump'. Hmm… So that's why he needs so many. Well, I'm impressed. He breathed heavily and picked up one punching bag and set in on the hook. He turned, I presume, to pick up the now broken punching bag but froze and stared straight at me.

My mouth opened in surprise when his brow furrowed and he took one purposeful step toward me. I squeaked in fright and leapt up, but stumbled on the last step and fell forward. I could hear the man's steps getting closer so I scrambled up, clutching my phone to my chest and dashed upstairs without looking back. "Hey wait!" The man called, spurring me on faster. No, no, no, no, no, no, no! Don't follow me upstairs, don't follow me! Why are you following me! I finally reached the top of the stairs after an eternity and slammed the door shut behind me, hoping to slow the man down.

The door shuddered when he collided with it followed by a loud 'oof'. I squeaked again, horrified that I had accidentally hurt him but to scared to stay to make sure he was alright. I made it halfway to the boxing ring when the door swung open and out came the man. And I, being the uncoordinated person I am, tripped on thin air. Honestly, who falls like that when they're running for quite possibly their life? Me, that's who. I let out a small moan of pain and simply laid there when my chest constricted. Oh great, now I'm going to pass out and I really will die.

"Miss are you alright?" My brow furrowed at his question. "Miss?" He asked again and walked toward me. He kneeled down and lightly pressed his hand to my back, "Miss? Are you okay? Do you need help?" Okay, I'm drawing a blank here. Is he supposed to be kind to me? "Miss Emma, your heart rate seems to have reached dangerous levels." JARVIS announced, making the man jump. I pulled myself up and sat back; pressing a hand to my chest and felt my erratic heart beat. I ignored JARVIS for a moment and looked at the man beside me. His eyes were a brilliant blue and I became lost in them for a moment.

But his frown brought me back and I quickly sputtered out an apology, "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to spy! I, I was just wandering when I found this place and explored! Please forgive me!" The man's frown eased into a smile, "No worries Miss, I want to apologize for scaring you." My chest relaxed so I stood, "You're forgiven Mr…?" The man stood also, slightly intimidating me with his height, "Rogers, Steve Rogers." He held a hand out and I put my much more petite hand in it, "Well then Mr. Rogers I forgive you. My name is Emma Stark." Once he released my hand I stepped away from him, "Goodbye then Mr. Rogers."

I began my hasty retreat, determined to head straight home and fall into my plush bed even if Tony and Pepper were still being intimate. "Stark? As in Stark Industries?" Steve asked and I glanced back at him. I nodded, "That's right." The man seemed deep in thought and I didn't know what to do. Do I wait or just leave? "Are you married to Mr. Stark?" He asked, making me sputter incoherently. "No! Tony's my older brother!" He blinked then smiled once again at me, "Oh, well then." He coughed, "Um, goodbye Miss Emma Stark. Feel free to drop by again if you'd like."

I nodded, to flustered to reply, and finally left. The cold air helped calm me and I sighed. "Well JARVIS, that was certainly interesting." I said as I began to walk back home. "It certainly was Miss Emma." Steve Rogers. Well, he seemed nice enough. He even asked me to go back! Of course I won't go back, why should I? But then again it would be rather rude not to. Maybe I'll go back just once. There's no harm in that right? "JARVIS," I began when a sudden thought hit me, "Let's not tell Tony about what happened today. He really doesn't need to know." And he really didn't. Nothing bad happened; I just met a rather handsome guy. No harm in wanting to go back and see him. "Of course Miss Emma."


	3. Chapter 3

Tony stared at me over the rim of his glass of scotch. He has been for a while now. He hasn't said anything though, he's just staring. And I'm getting a little uncomfortable with it. I tried to ignore him though by playing a game with JARVIS on my phone. I think it's called _Draw Something_ and the object of the game is to draw an object clear enough for your friend to guess. So far JARVIS and I are tied.

Tony leaned forward in his seat and set his glass down, "Alright, out with it." I looked up at him startled, "What?" He rolled his eyes and waved a hand at me, "What is with this?" He said. I blinked, not really understanding what he was saying. "What's wrong with me?" I asked. He gestured at me again, "You're all smiles today." He said. Smiles? What is he talking about? I shook my head and said, "I don't understand…" Tony sighed, "Who's the guy you met?"

My face heated up, "W-what? I, I didn't meet anybody!" Tony smirked at me, "You're a terrible liar, you know that right?" I sighed and let my head fall in defeat, "I know." Tony's smirk widened, "So?" He asked, gesturing for me to continue. I didn't quite know what he was asking though, "So what?"

He sighed, "Who's the guy Emma?" I turned away from him in embarrassment, "No one. Just a stranger." Tony poured himself more scotch. "Yes but who is he?" He asked, becoming exasperated with me. I shrugged, "I don't know. I just met him on my walk the other day." Tony's eyes narrowed and he gave me "the look". The look that said "you better tell me the whole story or so help me I will do something to embarrass you".

I don't like that look. Because Tony always follows through with his threats, especially the unspoken ones. And last time I ignored "the look" he hid all my clothes and left me with only a very short black skirt, a leopard print shirt with an extremely low neckline, and a pair of heels that doubled as weapons. We had to go to a professional dinner with father that night.

I shuddered at the memory, making Tony's smirk reappear. He knew he was going to win this. "He was no one really Tony. On my walk I had tripped and he helped me. Then after that I came home." Tony frowned, apparently not happy with the lack of details in my story. "How boring." He said, turning back to his scotch. I breathed a silent sigh of relief. I had told him the truth, maybe not the whole thing, but still the truth. If I had tried to lie he would have seen straight through it. But even so, I can't lie to Tony. I'd feel miserable if I ever did.

"How's you're project coming along?" I asked him to ease into another topic and to get his mind off of me. Tony instantly perked up, sitting straighter in his seat and a wide smile spread across his lips. "Perfect. I should be done by the end of next week." I smiled back, happy to see Tony's excitement. He's always loved to make things. Not just to impress our father. And he's always happiest when designing and creating something new. Well, he's happy when being intimate with someone too but that's not really the point.

Tony stood suddenly, "Well, I'm heading upstairs." He grabbed the bottle of scotch before turning to walk away. "Bye Tony." I called to him once he reached the stairs. He lifted the hand with the bottle and disappeared up the stairs. I let out a puff of air and rested my head on my hand and clicked 'done' on my phone to let JARVIS guess my picture. "A bouquet of roses, Miss Emma." So quick to reply such a smart computer he is.

"Right again JARVIS." The screen blanked out as JARVIS began his turn. My mind wandered over to Mr. Steve Rogers. He was a very handsome man and kind too. Did he really mean it when he said I could return? Or was that just to be polite? I know I often say things just to be polite. And I know Pepper does it too. Tony's really the only person I know that says things that are hardly ever polite. It's just not his nature to ever pretend at being polite, well unless it comes to talking to my doctors. Then he can be polite, but only sometimes.

"Do you think we should go back?" I asked JARVIS. My phone lit up with his picture. It was an intricately drawn mermaid. She had fin like ears, was decorated in pearls, long silver hair, and a pale blue koi fish like tail. "What do you mean, Miss Emma?" JARVIS asked. I tugged on my hair, a small frown forming on my face. "Should we visit Mr. Rogers again? Or did he tell us to go back just to be polite? I would rather not go where I'm not wanted."

"Mr. Roger's, I believe, was not merely being polite."

My frown disappeared into a small smile, "You think so JARVIS? Would he really like to see me again?" I sure hope he did. If not then that'd just be a big disappointment. JARVIS was quick to reply, "Of course, Miss Emma." Well then, I guess it's decided. I hope you're waiting for me Rogers.

**o0o**

"Oh JARVIS should I really go in? I mean I know I said I would but there's always tomorrow. But then I probably won't have the courage to return tomorrow. But if I did…" I began mumbling to myself. JARVIS didn't reply to my ramblings since he knows I frequently just babble until I ultimately come to a decision. This time, however, I didn't get to make a decision.

The door to the gym opened and I was quick to shut my mouth at the sight of Mr. Rogers. He seemed surprised to see me but smiled nonetheless, "Hello." I opened my mouth to reply but no sound came out. His smile slowly fell and a look of worry appeared, "Miss Stark?" I tried to get my brain to function, to at least utter something even semi-intelligent.

"Oh, um, hello! I, I was just, um. I was… I was…" The words coming out my mouth were a jumbled mess and Mr. Rogers' brow furrowed. I snapped my mouth shut and took in a deep breath, my face heating up with embarrassment. "I think I'm just going to go now." I said, turning to make my escape. But I was stopped by a gentle yet firm grip on my wrist. "Wait!" Mr. Rogers said.

I turned back around to face him, nibbling lightly on the inside of my lip. "Do you, uh, want to get lunch?" He asked softly. My garbled mind ground to halt and my mouth fell open in light shock. Was I being asked out? Like, on a date? Mr. Rogers' face flushed a light pink, "Uh, I mean only if you'd like to. You don't have to if you don't want to." I smiled up at him, making him smile too.

"I'd love to Mr. Rogers." Abruptly his smile faded a little and I began to panic. Did I do something wrong? Was I not to say yes like that? "You can call me Steve if you'd like." He said. I smiled once again, "Steve?" I said, tasting the name on my tongue. It was nice to say a new name for once. "Well then," I said, "If I call you Steve you must call me Emma." Steve smiled widely.

"Alright then, Emma it is." An unfamiliar feeling bubbled inside my stomach when he said my name. Not entirely uncomfortable and it made me giddy. "Where to Steve?" He hooked his arm with mine like the men from older movies do with their dates, "There's this pizza parlor not far away if you'd like to go there." He said, leading me down the street. Pizza? Oh I haven't had that in a while. "Okay, pizza."

Like Steve said, it really wasn't that far from the gym, only half a block away. It wasn't that big nor was it particularly fancy. But I had heard of this place before. _Luigi's_, I've been told, serves amazing pizza. We sat in a back corner and ordered a simple pepperoni pizza and sat in silence for a couple moments. I was the first to break the silence with a simple, "Why?" Steve blinked at my question, "Why what?" He asked.

I played with the hem of my plum colored shirt, "Why did you ask me to lunch? I've only known you for two days." Well I guess technically its four. After I first met him I stayed home for two days before JARVIS finally convinced me to leave. But this is only the second time I've seen him. Steve was quiet as he pondered my question. He leaned back in his seat, "Well, I don't really know. You seemed…lonely."

I tensed. So he only said this because he thinks I'm lonely? Because he feels pity for me? I don't want pity, I want a friend. And even if I am lonely (which I really am, he was right about that) I don't want him to pity me. I've had enough pity in life. By doctors, my parents, Tony, Pepper, Mr. Perkins. Am I just such a sad case that people can only feel pity for me?

"But," Steve said, making me glance up at him, "I also thought you were pretty." He blinked and his face suddenly flushed a bright red, it seems he didn't mean to say that. "Uh I mean, um." He coughed and turned away, "I mean I just wanted to get to know you a little more." I laughed, a little amused at his embarrassment. It's rare that I'm not the one in that position. "What would you like to know Steve?"

And so the hours passed. I told Steve a little about my life. About my sickness and JARVIS. Life with Tony and the reason why I had been at his gym. At first he seemed a little sad about my tale, but then he became flustered when I told him about Tony's intimate life with women. "And he doesn't even consider you? When he brings women home or is with Pepper? He just, becomes intimate?"

I shrugged, not really understanding why he was so upset. "Well, yeah. Tony has always been…adventurous with women. And I guess being intimate does make a lot of noise… But JARVIS always makes sure I don't have to listen to Tony's activities while at home." Steve still looked a little upset so I decided to change the subject, "Well then what about you? What's your story?"

A pained expression consumed Steve's features and I instantly felt guilty for causing it. "If it's too hard for you, you don't have to tell me. I can wait until you're ready." He smiled gratefully at me. And we trailed off into another obscure topic as we finished our meal and left. By the time we were outside the sun was already setting. "I have to go." I told him once I saw the time. "So I'll see you later?" I asked, not sure if saying that out loud was okay.

But it didn't bother Steve, "Sure, you know where to find me." He said with a smile. I stepped away from him and waved, "Bye Steve." He waved good bye too and I was quick to leave. I couldn't keep the giddy smile creeping onto my features or the bubbling giggle. I didn't know why I was feeling this way but I liked it. "Oh JARVIS, I think I actually made a friend!"

"Fantastic, Miss Emma." I held my phone tightly to my chest as I made my way back home. I wonder if I should tell Tony, if he'd even like Steve. But I guess I'll find out later. That is, if this continues on and Steve doesn't disappear like everyone else in my life.

* * *

Thank you all for alerting this story! It probably won't be very long, but I hope it comes out well. And if things seem a little rushed, I'm sorry. But this is set only about a week before the Avengers plot begins. So the romance between the two will seemed rushed, I mean an alien invasion does that to people you know? And please tell me if anyone strays out of character! I want to keep them as in-character as I can. Thank you for reading! And don't be shy about leaving a review, I love hearing your thought and/or suggestions!

**Assate: **Thank you!

**theking's folly: **Thank you so much for the review and criticism! I hope I did better with separating the dialogue this chapter. And I'll definitely keep that JARVIS tip in mind. It'll definitely come in handy in later chapters.

**Mdt9832: **Thank you for the review! I hope you like how Emma's return ended!

**aaroniteXkryptonite: **Thank you!


	4. Chapter 4

It amazes me how strong Steve is. To be able to strike down a punching bag with a single well aimed punch. But it also worries me. Whenever he breaks one he's consumed with grief and anger. All concentrated into his workout. What has made him feel this way? Why does he always seem close to tears when working out? When I had asked JARVIS he said Steve could be feeling guilty about something.

"Guilty JARVIS? What could he possibly be guilty about?"

"There are many things that could have happened to Mr. Rogers in the past."

"Does that mean he did something or that something happened to him but he still feels guilty even though it's not his fault?"

"I don't know, Miss Emma."

Oh well that was very enlightening. I sighed heavily and rolled over on my bed. It's been three days since my outing with Steve, making today Wednesday, and I've seen him every day at the gym. But for some reason I woke up at four thirty this morning and haven't been able to go back to sleep. Luckily for me Tony and Pepper don't wake up until much later so there's no chance of their little activities going on anytime soon.

But that still leaves me with nothing to do. I tried to pass the time talking to JARVIS but only a half hour passed doing that and I'm starting to become restless. I sat up and glanced around my room, what could I do to pass the time? Bathroom? No, what could I possibly do in there? Closet? No, I don't really care about dressing up; Tony ruined that for me with all his mean pranks growing up. Drawing table? Yes, that would do.

I moved toward my drawing table on the far left wall of my room and sat down in my office chair. I pulled out the small drawer and took out my sketch pad, a pencil, and my eraser. I flipped through my sketch pad to find a clean page but paused on the sketch I had made of JARVIS. Or rather what I think he would have looked like had he been human.

It was of a tall blonde man with blue eyes and a pair of thin rimmed glasses. I clothed him in a dark blue suit with a red tie*****. I don't know why I think JARVIS would look like this. Maybe the even tone and the slight hints of sarcasm in his voice made me instantly think of a business man. Or maybe a butler? No, definitely business man. In the corner of the page I decided to scrawl JARVIS' name just for the sake of naming it. I usually don't do that with most of my drawings, they never seen by anybody but JARVIS and I. But this is a special picture, my best friend, and it deserved a name.

I continued flipping through the pages and finally found the empty page I was looking for. I stared at it blankly for a moment, trying to decide what to draw but soon realized that thinking about it wouldn't help me draw so instead I closed my eyes and breathed slowly. I let my mind wander wherever it wanted to, not focusing on any particular scene playing in my mind. Soon enough I realized that my hand was moving across the paper, lightly sketching out the basic skeletal structure of something.

I don't really know what it was I was drawing. My concentration was fleeting and I just couldn't focus. My hands had a mind of their own, carefully adding detail to the picture and erasing mistakes. Even when I was done it took me a while to get my mind under control to really look at my drawing. And I was a little embarrassed at what I saw. Steve when I first met him, clad in his white tank top and black sweat pants, beating the crap out of a punching bag. Another punching bag bleeding sand all over the floor across from him and his pile of new punching bags beside him.

What is with my new found obsession with Steve? Even subconsciously he's all I can think about! I don't want to be one of those creepy girls that obsess over the guy they just met. I don't want to be like those stalker girls Tony occasionally has to deal with! I can't ever turn into one of those things! "JARVIS!" I moaned, "Am I obsessed with Steve? Please tell me I'm not!"

"You're not obsessed with Mr. Rogers; you're merely fascinated by him."

Hmm, I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing. I'll just choose to believe it's a good thing. I glanced at my clock once again to find that an hour and a half had passed, making it six thirty. Well then, I might as well add more detailed shadings to this. I grabbed my pen and first outlined the entire thing before cross hatching. By the time I was done another hour had passed and I was rather proud of my work.

Setting it to the side to dry out I went to my bathroom to shower. I flicked the lights on and almost instantly the shower turned on. My JARVIS, always knowing what I want to do almost before I do. Grabbing my toothbrush I put some toothpaste on the bristles and wet it before vigorously brushing my teeth. With my free hand I shimmied out of my night pants and panties. I pulled my night shirt over my head and let it fall on top of my other clothes and spit into the sink.

After rinsing my toothbrush I moved to my shower and smiled at the hot relaxing water. I let it beat down on my back for a couple moments before I reached for my shampoo and began to clean my hair. When that was done I moved on to washing my body. I paused in my washing when I felt like I was forgetting something, "JARVIS what is today?"

"The 23rd of May, Miss Emma." May 23rd? Aren't I supposed to do something today? Something important? A few seconds later it hit me. I had a doctor's appointment to go to. Jumping out the shower I hastily wrapped a towel around my body and ran out my room. I skidded across the floor and just barely caught myself before falling on my face and dove inside my closet to find something to wear.

"Miss Potts is calling for you Miss Emma."

"Tell her I'll be down in a moment!"

I grabbed the nearest piece of clothing I had and dashed out my closet to my drawers and fished out my bra and panties. After those were on I took a moment to look at what I was going to wear. It was a black dress with purple trimmings and purple buttons down the front and ended just above my knees. Not a bad choice, not a bad choice at all. I slipped the dress on and grabbed my black ballet, phone, and a brush before dashing to the elevator.

Once the elevator was in motion I breathed a sigh of relief and put my shoes on. I ran the brush through my hair to get out my worst knots before running my fingers through it and occasionally shaking my hair to try and dry it, Luckily it wasn't dripping wet but I still wished it would dry faster. The elevator chimed and opened letting me out into the underground parking lot.

And there was the lovely Virginia "Pepper" Potts in all her beauty, clad in one of her more casual business suits. "Ready to go Emma?" She asked me. My brows knit together in slight confusion, "Tony's not coming this time?" I asked and slid into the back seat of the black car behind Pepper. She slid in beside me and shook her head, "No, he's putting the finishing touches on his prototype. Later today he should be done and Stark Tower will be entirely self-sustaining."

Pepper smiled happily, this was her idea after all. After Tony made the mini arc reactor for his heart the gears in Pepper's mind began to work. And after the small fiasco last year she told Tony and he was all for it. I wasn't around during her initial proposal though; I was stuck in the hospital for a slight heart failure that totally had nothing to do with Tony and James destroying Tony's Miami penthouse when Tony got a little tipsy. It had absolutely nothing to do with that.

We settled into a somewhat awkward silence during the ride. We never had much in common and I just could never think of anything to say but the basic polite conversation starters, which never really worked when coming from me. When we arrived at my doctors the usual monotonous tests began. Blood was drawn, my heart rate tested, reflexes seen to, my sight and hearing tested, they listened to my heart and lungs, and finally I was given the dreaded cup and was told to go to the bathroom.

I hated that part most of all, it was just so plain nasty. Why must they always take a urine sample? I would very much prefer to give them more blood instead of that. But no, they had to give me all sorts of bodily tests. So stupid. They never find out anything unusual from my urine, yet I still have to do it. Disgusting. Once I was done in the bathroom I set the cup on a tray and walked back to my designated room where Pepper sat talking with my doctor.

My doctor's a rather nice man. He's of average height and his brown hair is graying in some places. He's not particularly muscular but he's not unfit. "Well Miss Stark it seems your anemia hasn't changed. Are you still taking your iron supplements?" I nodded; I always take those darn pills. "Your heart rate is low as normal, and there doesn't seem to be any problems with your lung functions. I doubt we'll find anything in your urine sample, but if anything comes up we'll notify you. Other then that you're healthy and don't need any other pills at the moment."

Oh thank goodness. Taking my iron pills is hard enough; I don't want to take anymore like when I was a child. Pepper smiled happily and grabbed her purse, "Well then, thank you again doctor. We'll see you in a couple months." She motioned for me to follow as the doctor said his goodbyes and soon enough we were leaving the building. At the car I stayed back as she entered it. When she noticed I didn't immediately follow her she turned around, "Come on Emma, let's take you home."

I bit my lip, mustering up my courage to talk to her, "Actually Pepper, I was thinking about walking around a little. I know you and Tony are going to be busy today and I need to go… um, buy some more art supplies." I tried hard not to fidget once I said my excuse. It wasn't necessarily a lie; I do need more art equipment…in about six months. But she doesn't need to know that.

Pepper blinked, a little confused, but accepted it anyway, "Well alright then. Call me if you need me to send someone to pick you up." I was a little shocked she went along with it, but didn't question my luck. Instead I just nodded vigorously and turned to leave Pepper and go back to the elevator to reach the ground floor when her voice rang out, "Tell your boyfriend I said hi!"

I froze and turned around, a furious blush spreading across my face, and saw her smiling mischievously before she closed the car door and left. Needless to say I was horrified. Mr. Steve Rogers is not my boyfriend. He's just my rather handsome friend that I just so happen to like. But how did Pepper even know I was going to see a male friend, who once again is not my boyfriend, and not getting art supplies? Women's intuition? Or maybe the intuition of a normal person. Either way I really do hope she doesn't tell Tony. He'll never stop hassling me if she does.

But you know what, it doesn't even matter. Nope, not one bit. "Are you quite alright Miss Emma?" JARVIS suddenly said. I blinked out of my daze and rubbed my thumb over the screen of my phone. "Yes, I'm fine." I told him and took in a deep breath. "Well then, let's go see Steve." Surprisingly enough, my doctor's office is even closer to Steve's gym then Stark Tower is. So it didn't take me very long to reach it. However once it was in my sight I paused at the tall black man dressed in a black leather trench coat and sporting an eye patch going inside the gym.

"JARVIS! Did you see that man? He looked pretty intimidating didn't he? Should we still go inside? He must want to meet with Steve if he's going inside. So should we wait here or just go in? Or maybe we should just leave altogether!" Darn my ramblings. I'm not sure JARVIS understood all of what I said, but he seemed to get the gist of it.

"Come now Miss Emma, I'm sure nothing bad would happen if you go inside." He said in his smooth voice. Now I'm absolutely sure he's getting his own personality. I closed my eyes and breathed slowly to calm myself, "Alright, we're going in…" I said but made no move toward the gym. I was just too nervous to actually commit myself to going inside. With a huff I clenched my fists, _'Come on Emma, grow up! Stop being a baby and go inside! It's not that hard to do, now walk!'_

With that being said to myself, I strode over to the gym and walked inside. My small bout of confidence shriveled up, however, once I was inside. I clutched my phone to my chest, hoping for some kind of security as I wandered farther inside the seemingly empty gym. I was tempted to call out to Steve, but was too scared of the other man possibly hearing me. Making my way over to the stairs I slowly pushed the door open.

After steadying my breathing I cautiously made my way down. I could hear Steve talking with the other man, but couldn't decipher what they were saying. "Your country needs you Captain." The rather masculine voice of the intimidating man said. I paused half way down the flight and crouched down to listen for more. Steve gave some mumbled reply and then the other man was talking again.

"This is in the possession of hostile forces." It was quiet for a moment then Steve spoke up.

"Hydra?"

I frowned when only more mumbles floated up to me. But the term, 'Hydra' rang a faint bell in my memory. I've heard it somewhere before, but couldn't think of where. At the soft sound of feet nearing the stairs I quickly got up and half ran back up the stairs. The last thing I heard before being fully up the stairs was, "You should have left it in the ocean."

I was panicking a little; I can't let Steve know I was eavesdropping! So I made an attempt to run out the gym, but, just like last time, my clumsy self fell. Cursing myself for being so uncoordinated I sat up, rubbing my now sore head. "Emma?" I tensed at the sound of my name and half turned to see Steve standing in the door way with his duffle bag over his shoulder.

"Uh, hi Steve." I waved and gave him a small smile. He blinked and shook his head, a smile of his own settling on his features, "You're awfully clumsy Emma." He said as he walked toward me. I laughed lightly, "I know." He offered me a hand and pulled me up. I dusted off my bottom and opened my mouth to say something but the strange man's sudden appearance stopped me.

Abruptly I shut my mouth and averted my eyes from his raised eyebrows and inquiring expression. Steve let out a deep breath at the sight of the man and took a hold of my hand, "Come on Emma, let's go." He said as he pulled me out the gym behind him. I glanced back at the man to see his eyebrows raised even more and staring intently at me. Once we were outside I took a chance too look up at Steve and saw a deep frown on his face.

I decided that talking to him now was probably not the best thing to do and simply followed after him. I didn't know where we were going but didn't really care. I trust Steve well enough; I doubt he would take me anywhere dangerous. It didn't escape my notice that Steve had a firm grip on my hand and made no sign of letting go anytime soon. I also noticed quiet a few women staring at Steve sneering at me when they saw our linked hands. Though some weren't as rude, they only sighed in a defeated manner and mumbled to their friends.

After about ten blocks of walking I finally found my voice, "Steve, where are we going?" Steve blinked out of his stupor and glanced down at me confused. As if he'd forgotten I was even with him. Then he noticed our linked hands and flushed a light pink and hastily let me go, he coughed into his hand and looked away. "I was," another cough, "I was just on my way to my apartment." His faced became a deeper pink. "Oh lord, I'm not trying to, um, insinuate anything by that. I swear to you! I'm not trying to force you into anything."

I don't know what he's babbling about. Insinuate what? Force me to what? People are so confusing. "I don't understand what you're saying Steve." I told him, my brows knit together as I tried to come up with a reason as to why he was acting this way. This seemed to calm him down a little, "It doesn't even matter, but I do need to go to my apartment. Would you like to join me?" He asked.

Well what else was I going to do today? Nodding I smiled up at him, "Okay then, lead the way." Steve looked a little sheepish, "Um, we're here…" This time it was my turn to blink and I looked up at the large building we were standing outside of, "Oh…" Was all I managed to say before Steve put a hand on the small of my back and led me up the short stairs and into the building. I trailed behind him once inside and we ascended one more flight of stairs before going to the end of the hall on the second floor.

Steve fished around in his pocket for his keys and gestured for me to go in first so I did. It was a rather nice apartment and clean too. Nothing seemed out of place but it also seemed a little plain. There wasn't anything, as far as I could see, that was personal in his apartment. It was just the standard necessities for a home. Which was odd, but I decided not to bring it up. I sat down at the couch as Steve shuffled around, throwing his duffle bag into his room and moving toward the kitchen, "Do you want anything to drink?" He asked me.

"Water please, if you don't mind." Steve laughed lightly at my reply. "No, I don't mind at all!" He said. I waited quietly for him to come back and thanked him for the glass of water. He frowned when I reached for the water and set grabbed my arm and turned it over to look at my bandages, "What's this?" He mumbled. Embarrassed about my sickness I used my free hand to cover the bandages, "It's nothing, I just went to the doctor's earlier is all."

His frown remained in place and I struggled to find a new topic, "Who was that man at the gym?" That certainly didn't seem like the right thing to say because his eyes hardened and he turned away from me. Panicking once more I apologized, but he only waved it away."There's nothing for you to apologize for." He said. We lapsed into silence and he sighed heavily, sitting down across from me.

"I'm going to be leaving for a while." He said. My eyes widened at the statement, he's leaving? "W-what? Why?" I asked. He looked away from me, "I have some…business to attend to. I shouldn't be gone long." I didn't say anything for a short while. Letting this bit of information sink in before I asked my dreaded question, "When?"

Steve sighed again, "In a couple hours." I stood abruptly, making him look up at me in surprise, "I, I just remembered I have to help Tony with something. I have to go." I rushed out and made my way over to the door. "Wait!" He said and gently held onto my arm to keep me from leaving. "I know it's sudden but I have to go, I don't want to but I have to." He said.

My lip began to tremble but I managed to keep my voice strong and even, "Excuse me but I have to go." I didn't look back at him when he let me go and all but ran out the apartment and back down to the streets. Hastily I made my way through the streets of Manhattan to get back to Stark Tower. My eyes were burning and there was a lump in my throat that just wouldn't go away. But I refused to cry anywhere but in the safety in my room.

Besides, why was I so upset anyway? Whatever Steve does is his business, it doesn't concern me. So why was I getting so worked up about this? The sight of Stark Tower helped ease me and I didn't hesitate to run inside and repeatedly jam the elevator button in the hopes of getting it to arrive faster. The ride up to my floor was relatively short and once inside it was like a dam broke and the tears fell.

I felt ashamed for crying over something as insignificant as Steve leaving but couldn't stop myself. I stumbled my way to my room and fell face first onto my bed. And hoped desperately that Tony or Pepper wouldn't decide to come down to my room. The last thing I needed was one of them seeing me crying. At some point I fell asleep and when I opened my eyes the sun was much lower in the sky.

Sitting up I rubbed my eyes and idly wondered what time it was. Deciding that it didn't really matter I went into my bathroom to clean my face. I didn't look in my mirror, scared of what I might find, and left the bathroom to wander around. At some point I decided to go upstairs to visit Tony and heard an unfamiliar voice talking to him and Pepper.

"Something about me being selfish and not playing well with others." What the hell was Tony talking about? By the time I reached the top of the stairs Pepper was leaving with some man and Tony was studying some digital files. "Tony?" I called out to him tentatively. He hummed and turned to me, a hologram of a glowing blue cube in his hand, "Well looky here, what's up sleeping beauty? Have a nice nap?"

I rolled my eyes at him and moved toward him, "What's that Tony?" I asked, pointing at the cube. He frowned and stared hard at it, "I don't know. But I' going to find out." He said, opening new digital folders and bossing JARVIS around. My eyes trailed over to one of his open screens and I saw a clip of Captain America fighting on a loop. I pointed it out to Tony, "Isn't that the guy dad use to talk about?"

Tony glanced briefly at it, "Yeah, apparently I'm going to meet him soon." My jaw dropped, "Really? You're going to meet _the_ Captain America?" I asked him. He nodded, "Yup." He popped the p and moved around the screens to look at more stuff. I stepped away from him and moved toward his bar, "That's so cool Tony! You better tell me how he is!" Tony just hummed and I knew he wasn't really listening to me. He was in his 'mood' and would block everyone out unless he needed something from them.

"Hey, grab my bottle of scotch while you're over there!" I rolled my eyes, only Tony could drink and work at the same time. I grabbed a bottle of water and a glass for his scotch and his bottle. Setting the two on a table near Tony I patted his shoulder, "Well I'm going back down, later Tony." He raised a hand and I think tried to pat my shoulder too but ended up lightly face palming me, "Bye."

I smacked his hand away from my face, earning a smirk from him. I headed back down stairs and soon became bored with nothing to do. Eventually I ended up watching _The Sandlot_ and half way through the movie Tony's voice came floating downstairs, "Emma! I'm going out! I gotta save the world again!" Then nothing. I stared blankly at the TV screen and tried to come to terms with my situation. Everyone's gone. I'm left here alone, again. Well, its' not something I'm not used to, but why does it still hurt so much?

* * *

Aww, poor Emma. She hates being alone. Please leave a review with any thoughts or suggestions you may have!

**mdt9832: **Thank you for the review! I hope you enjoyed this new chapter!

**Kurosaki224: **I hope I keep true to everyone's personality throughout this story! I hope you enjoy this!


	5. Chapter 5

"For such an old guy he looks incredibly young, and he's very active. I think he does pilaties."

I couldn't help but laugh at Tony's statement. Of course my brother would say that about someone he just met; someone father would talk constantly about. I shuffled the eggs on my plate as he continued, ranting about how 'annoying' and 'absurdly old fashioned' the much older and much revered Captain America was.

"He thinks he's the leader of this little 'team' thing we have. Pssh, as if. _Everyone_ knows that _I _am the leader because, I mean, really? Who else could possibly be better than me?"

"Oh yes Tony, who else could ever take such a place but you?"

I nibbled on my toast and could just picture Tony preening over my compliment; he's so full of himself. But that's the Tony charm and it's why I love him.

"Oh, I almost forgot, I met Bruce Banner too. You know the guy that turns giant and green when he gets mad and goes on a rampage? He's the only one to speak my language around here."

Tony sounded a little irked about the last part. I guess the group he's with isn't up to par with his intelligence, besides Mr. Banner of course.

"Just where are you Tony? You speak as though you're half way across the world." I really was curious about this. Tony disappears so frequently, but he almost always tells me where he's going before he leaves. But yesterday he was in such a rush that all he told me was that he was saving the world again. There was a crunch over the line, meaning Tony was eating something, before he began to talk around his mouthful of food.

"Well I was in Germany last night; I don't really know where I am right now. I do know that I'm on an invisible hover craft of some sort though. JARVIS! Where are we?"

I rolled my eyes at that; Tony could sometimes be incredibly ditzy when it comes to his whereabouts. And it certainly doesn't help that he travels constantly and relies on Pepper or JARVIS for support. "Tony," I began, "you don't need to tell me where you are, I just want to know if you're safe."

He grunted, "Oh well then, I'm fine. How about you? No midnight visits? Have any wild parties? Did you go into my bar? You know you can't hold your alcohol well."

I laughed lightly at his rapid fire questions. They were incongruous, who would visit me? I have no friends to throw parties with and I've never had a sip of alcohol in my life. Which I guess could mean my alcohol tolerance could be incredibly low. Hmm, I never really thought about that. Could I possibly have inherited Tony's incredible alcohol tolerance as well? Or would a single drop of it have me sprawled on the floor muttering incoherent ramblings and vomiting all across the floor?

"Emma? Are you still there?"

Blinking out of my obscure musings I hastily apologized to Tony for being spacey. He just chuckled in reply and we continued on in our easy conversation, trailing away from the topic of superheroes and over into simpler topics. Such as the weather, Tony's prototypes, Pepper, my health, at least until suddenly my phone cut off. "Tony?" I hesitantly asked when my brother's voice was replaced with sudden silence.

I checked my phone to find that my phone call with Tony had somehow been terminated. "JARVIS, what happened?" I asked after trying to call Tony again and failing. But there wasn't a reply from him either. I began to panic now, "JARVIS? JARVIS! Answer me, please!" I stood from my seat at the table and began to wander, hoping that JARVIS was somehow only restricted to certain rooms and hadn't abandoned me.

But I had gone through my whole floor and there was no sign of my friend anywhere. JARVIS couldn't have just disappeared, he's a program! He has to be here, he just has to be! Maybe Tony's floor? Could he be there? Turning on my heel I ran out my room and up the short flight of stairs and continued calling out for my friend. I almost started crying when I still could not reach him, "JARVIS, please don't leave me too." I mumbled to myself.

What would I do if even JARVIS, my one and only companion for little more then a decade, left me also? But the monotonous voice of my friend floated out of my phone, which until this point was tucked safely away into my jean pocket. Now, however, I clutched it desperately in front of me and stared at my now lit up screen intently.

"Something has disrupted my systems, Miss Emma and I am unable to contact Mr. Stark."

Well that's rather startling news. What could possibly be interfering with JARVIS? My brother isn't a slacker when it comes to something he creates. He's very meticulous when it comes to his creations; he plans every possible situation for them to be in and makes a backup plan to support them. And Tony has never once had anything capable of messing with JARVIS, his oldest, most upgraded, and adaptable creation.

"JARVIS is there, is there someone in the building with us?"

I hoped to whatever God or deity out there that my suspicions would be proven false. With JARVIS' systems down, which of course must mean someone is here other than me, what could these people want? Money? Technology? Weapons? If someone's trying to steal Stark secrets what could I possibly do to stop them? Nothing! Absolutely nothing! I'm useless, so very useless.

"Yes."

I let out a low pitched whine at that simple answer. Oh God I'm going to die here today. But wait! Wait, wait, wait! Didn't Tony mention something about this kind of thing happening? What did he say? What did he say! He, he said, um… Oh! That's right! He said to barricade myself in my room and call for help. Well, an idiot could do that but how was that going to help me? There must be _something_ in this building that I can use for protection. Even if it's only a baseball bat, anything is better then nothing!

Okay, to Tony's room we go. Maybe Pepper left a gun or something, okay that's highly unlikely but its best to remain optimistic in these types of situations right? Though I really don't want to shoot someone, maybe just a baseball bat would work. I think I can handle smacking someone with that. Doesn't Tony have one under his bed? Or am I just making things up now? Okay Emma, get a hold of yourself! This is no time to panic and pass out! Be strong; for once in your life be strong!

Heading straight towards Tony's room I closed and locked the door behind me once inside. I then began my frantic search for some type of weapon to defend myself with. I first checked the closet but only found a bunch of snazzy suits, shoes, sunglasses, dress shirts and pants. With nothing useful there I abandoned the closet and dropped to the floor to search under the bed. But once again my search was fruitless.

I let out a frustrated groan and sat up. How was it possible that I can't use _anything_ as a means for defense? My brother invented and made weapons of mass destruction for goodness sake! Glancing once again around the room my eyes settled on the nightstand, zeroing in on what sat innocently atop it. After a few internal moments of debate I settled for my new choice of weapon and grabbed the lamp, because honestly, what else was left for me?

"JARVIS, can you figure out where in the building they are?" I asked as I crept toward the door. I was careful not to make a noise, in case these intruders were closer then I hoped. My heart picked up its pace at JARVIS' next words, freezing me on the spot with one hand on the doorknob. "They've arrived at our current floor, Miss Emma." JARVIS said. I became dangerously close to hyperventilating, but I shut my eyes and forcefully slowed my breathing and racing heart. Now was definitely not the time to pass out.

With my breathing and heart somewhat under control I twisted the doorknob slowly, pushing the door just enough to glance out. The back of a plump man was in my direct line of sight; he was carrying a black case and set it down on the table. When he turned around I could see that he had an odd glazed sort of expression on his face. His eyes were an unnatural shade of blue; it reminded me of that cube Tony was researching yesterday. After examining his eyes for a couple more moments I realized that his eyes were the exact same shade of blue as the cube. Was this significant?

He took a quick sweep of the floor, probably trying to see if anyone else was here, then unclipped a hand held radio from his waist and said something. Not long afterward men and women bombarded the floor carrying large silver boxes. The people scrambled around for a while before deciding to set up outside. Pulling the door shut once again I gripped my phone, "JARVIS-oh my God-JARVIS, we need to call Tony. We, we need to tell him all these people are here! And, and, we need to tell him-tell him…"

My eyes were beginning to burn and my throat constricted. I gasped for a breath around the lump in my throat, "JARVIS, if I'm going to die right now I want to hear my brother's voice one last time. I hope I don't die, but with all these people here it's only a matter of time until they find me here and, and-! God JARVIS! Do you think we could connect to him? Please tell me we can, please!"

I was desperately trying to keep myself from becoming hysterical, which was not easy. I put one hand over my mouth to muffle any cries that may slip out and waited for JARVIS' reply. Minutes ticked by and the only sound I heard was from the people just outside the room working, someone barking orders, and a very faint hum. With still no reply from JARVIS nearly an hour later I resigned myself to the fact that he must have shut down entirely and that I was going to be murdered.

* * *

**thecatchisdeadliest: **Yes, yes they do.

**aaronitexkryptonite: **Thank you!

**Kurosaki224: **I wonder also, we'll see how she is next chapter!

**erin: **Oh thank you, I hope to keep her from being mary sue in anyway. Please tell me if she ever starts to. We'll see Tony's epic tantrum when he finds out next chapter!


	6. Chapter 6

"Emma? Emma, are you there?"

Yes. I'm here, at least for the moment. I'll die soon. The people outside have quieted down, leaving me here in this choking silence. That humming, however, increased. It's the only sound I hear besides this voice talking to me.

"Emma! If you're there answer me!"

Oh, now the voice is being mean. What did I do? I've been good. I do as I'm told, I don't talk back. I'm polite and nice. I've never run off. I've never done anything I shouldn't do. Why is this happening to me? Why when things finally seemed to go right for me has this happened? What have I done?

"Emma, please!"

Please? Please what? What can I do? What can sick little Emma do? She can't get too excited or else she'll pass out and have to go to the hospital. Stupid Emma, always bringing everyone else down. That's why mom and dad didn't let you go to public school. You couldn't handle it, you were too _weak_.

No one wanted to be around you. They were too scared you'd drop dead any second. Even now you're still a burden. Needing constant care, you should be living in the hospital with all the other sick people. But no, mother made Tony promise to always take care of you when she was dying. She knew that father wouldn't, Tony was the only one left to care.

And out of his duty as a son, and an older brother, he was obligated to accept. Not because he loves you, but because he _had _to. Even your only friend left you, a computer, left you all alone. You should have insisted to stay in the special home for sick children when your heart stopped when you were fifteen and the doctors were barely able to revive you.

You ruined Tony's special day then. He had just inherited Stark Enterprises, though it was sad dad had to die for that to happen, and there was going to be a big party to celebrate. But no, your body just had to give out. You just had to collapse in your room and if only that maid didn't find you there, maybe it would have been better.

But no, the maid just had to panic. JARVIS just had to call an ambulance. You just had to be rushed to the ER. Pepper just had to call and tell Tony while he was out with Rhodey. The party just had to be cancelled. If you were gone, would things have been better? Would anything have changed?

Maybe. Maybe not. Regardless you're stuck here with that mean voice in near hysterics calling out to you. Why does it sound masculine? Shouldn't an inner voice sound like you? It should sound condescending and more factual. Not emotional. And it most certainly shouldn't sound so strangely familiar. Almost like Tony's voice yelling at me…

I blinked at my sudden realization. Peeking up from my knees I glanced at either side of myself to try and find the source of the voice. And there, just to the left of me, barely a foot away, my phone sat innocently. Screen lit and a picture of Tony smiling widely at me. I hesitantly grabbed it and brought it to my ear, "T-Tony?"

At the sound of Tony's relieved sigh I nearly started sobbing. "Tony! Oh Tony, you have no idea what's been going on here! These people came and they shut down JARVIS! They're doing something, I don't know what though. I, I locked myself in your room and they're still here. I don't know what to do!" Tony hushed me, telling me to calm down and listen to him.

"Look, there's this demigod trying to take over Earth. Remember that cube from last night?" I nodded, but then realized he couldn't see that so I said yes. "That cube is very powerful and very dangerous. I'm on my way back but I need you to do something for me." I bit my lip and agreed to do whatever he needed me to do. "On my nightstand there should be two bracelets…"

I stood and made my way over to his nightstand and sure enough, two bracelets sat atop it. I grabbed them and told him I had them. "Good, now, this is where things get difficult. I need you to take those bracelets and but them behind my bar."

I hissed quietly at him, "Are you crazy! Those people are still here Tony! And you know better than anyone else how useless I am!" Tony sighed loudly, "Emma please! I need you to do this for me. Just stay low and go carefully. I promise you, nothing will happen. I won't let anything happen to you."

I struggled to believe him. I knew Tony wouldn't lie to me, but still, my body always betrays me in the worst times. Would I be able to do this? Without fail? Or would I die trying? Well, only one way to find out right? "Alright, I'll do it. Just…just keep your promise, okay?" I said as I made my way to the door. Tony chuckled, "I always do." He ended our call so I slipped my phone into the front pocket of my jeans.

Bending down I retrieved my previously discarded weapon, tightening my grip on the lamp for reassurance I grabbed the doorknob and slowly eased the door open. I couldn't hear anything, just that infernal humming, and pushed the door open a little wider. With a greater view of the floor I found that nearly everyone had left. The man that had first arrived was outside tinkering with some sort of machine that held the cube.

I crouched down and slipped out the room, quietly closing the door behind me. I crawled over to one of the large silver cases and sat there for a moment. Peeking around I saw that I was almost halfway to the bar, but there was only one large box to help conceal. After that, well, after that I would be seen. The only other cover was the bar itself.

I stole a glance at the round man to see he was immersed in the odd machine. Maybe, if I moved carefully, he wouldn't notice me. Steeling my quivering nerves I made my way over to the box, watching the man the entire time. Once behind the box I sighed in relief, almost there, just a little farther to go. Setting out I kept low, now basically army crawling to the bar.

I kept one eye on the man as I scuttled over to the bar. I froze when the man half turned, talking into a cell phone, his eyes making a quick sweep over the entirety of the helicopter pad and Tony's Ironman runway before moving toward the inside of the floor. I pressed myself close to the floor and ceased all movement; I didn't even breath, and prayed to God he would just overlook me.

I shut my eyes, waiting for the inevitable. After a couple minutes of nothing happening I opened my eyes cautiously, figuring the man was probably standing over me and just waiting for me to open my eyes then hit me over the head and knock me out. But, when I finally did, the man was still out by the machine talking. I didn't know whether to believe he simply didn't see me or just didn't really care that I was here. However I didn't question it much and continued on my way to the bar.

Finally I was behind the bar and simply sat there a moment, amazed that I was still alive. Okay, Emma, remember you have a mission to do here. I pulled out the two bracelets from my pocket and reached up to put them on the bar. With that done I crawled over to a corner and hunkered down, I wasn't going to be moving for a while. I pulled my legs up to my chest and wrapped my arms around my knees, resting my head between them. Now I wait, for what who knows?

**o0o**

A man, there's another man here. I can hear him talking, soft mumbles and angry orders. His voice has an alluring quality to it, filled with mischief and dripping with lies. But at the same time he sounds strangely sad. Like a lost child wishing for the sweet comfort of a loving embrace. He makes me sad. Oh so very sad. How is it possible for someone to be in so much pain?

I knew instantly that he was the demigod Tony had told me briefly about earlier. Aren't Gods supposed to be superior beings? They shouldn't feel the pain that this man radiates. No one should feel so much pain, God or not. But, at the same time, I'm deathly afraid of him.

Pain makes people do things. It can make them stronger and able to withstand any curve ball the fates decide to throw at them. Or it can break them entirely. Shatter their soul and force them to do terrible things, like what this man is doing now. People are dying because of the pain this man was dealt.

The man fell silent, his pacing ceased and the humming rose in tempo. My head began to hurt and I clenched it in the hopes of somehow stopping the pain. Then, suddenly, the humming stopped. The pressure in my skull released all at once and I could hear the soft clicking of the demigod walking once again.

The soft whirring of Tony's walk way coming to life made my head jerk up in surprise. Tony? He's here? He's finally come! I had to restrain myself from leaping up; I couldn't let that god know I was here. I could feel the tension permeating the room as Tony came inside. Neither spoke, they were simply sizing each other up I suppose.

The first to speak was my brother. And, being the cocky and witty being he is, said this: "You should be afraid." In such a self assured and righteous tone that I let my head fall into my hands and groaned softly in dismay. My brother was definitely going to get this guy mad and possibly get himself killed.

There was a moment of stunned silence and Tony rounded the corner of the bar. His eyes widened briefly at the sight of me, curled up in the corner with my knees drawn up. Tear stains on my cheeks and hair mussed. I must be a sight to behold. He quickly composed himself and turned away from me, turning is attention to one of his many bottles of Scotch and a glass.

"What have I to be afraid of?" The man asked smoothly. Tony pulled the glass stopper off his bottle, "The Avengers." He replied quickly, looking up at the man. The soft clicking of the man walking began again. Tony rolled his eyes, "It's what we call ourselves, sort of like a team. Earth's mightiest heroes type thing." He said in a offhanded manner.

"Yes, I've met them." I could hear the sarcastic smirk splayed across the god's lips. Tony scoffed, "Yeah, takes us a while to get any traction, I give you that one. But… let's do a head count here. Your brother, the demigod," The god let out his own scoff. Tony glanced down at the bracelets and began to discreetly put them on.

"A super soldier and living legend who kind of lives up to the legend, a man with…breath taking anger management issues, a couple of master assassins and _you_," Tony accentuated this by pointing at the man, "big fella, managed to piss off every single one of them." He picked up his glass and took a quick drink.

"That was the plan." Came the suave reply. Tony shook his head at that, "Not a good plan." He began to walk back around the bar and towards the god, "When they come, and they will, they'll come for you." Now the god was getting irked, the slight lilt in his voice, though it was pleasant on the ears, ensured pain and suffering. "I have an army."

"We have a Hulk." Was Tony's immediate response. "Well I thought the beast had wandered off." The god's question was more of a statement. Now Tony was beginning to get annoyed. He raised his voice slightly, "You're missing the point. There's no throne, there's no version of this where you come out on top. Now _maybe_ your army comes and _maybe_ it's too much for us to handle but it's all on you. Because if we can't protect the Earth you can be damn sure we'll avenge it."

The god's voice took on a dangerous tone now, "How will your friends have time for me… when they're so busy fighting you?" There was a light tap against something metal and a short silence before the sound happened again. "This usually works." The god mumbled. Tony just had to be a smart ass with his next remark, "Yeah well performance issues are common, one out of five-"

He was cut short and I bit my lip in agitation. What was going on? I heard a thud and was now becoming increasingly worried. Straightening up I slowly began to stand to glance over the top of the bar, I was still well hidden, and saw Tony on the floor. "JARVIS, time to get up now." He grunted.

The demigod, dressed in a back and green leather and metal armor ensemble, and wielding a large golden staff with a glowing blue orb at the tip, grabbed Tony by his neck, "You'll all fall before me." He was very sinister looking. Standing well over six feet, easily dwarfing Tony, and was rather muscled. I was scared for my brother's life now.

"Deploy!" Tony called out, glancing at the two black doors across the room. He let out short strangled yelp when the demigod threw him. I leaped up, shouting for my brother, as he fell through the glass and began plummeting down 80+ stories. The demigod turned and stared at me, freezing me on the spot, but looked away when a red capsule flew out the black doors and headed straight for him.

He quickly sidestepped it and the capsule flew out the window, shattering more glass. Now, with his attention firmly fixated on me, I really did begin to panic. And, with no other real option, I ran. It was a futile effort, I knew that once the idea sprang into my head, but I at least had to try.

And, just as I knew he would, the demigod sprang forward to attack me. With my lamp, still firmly in my hold, I reared back and put every ounce of my strength into clubbing him in the head. However I was no match for him. He simply slapped the lamp out of my hands and roughly grabbed my chin. "What's this?" He said, pulling my face up to inspect me.

"You look a lot like that man." I tried to jerk away from him but winced when he applied more pressure. A malicious smirk spread across his lips, "Oh, I see. You're related to him." His smirk widened, "Now this should be fun."

* * *

Yes, that is a cliff hanger. I hope its a good one. Please tell me any thoughts you guys may have on this story! I want the constructive criticism to not only make this a better story, but to make me a better writer. So please, leave a review or PM me anything. I love seeing your thoughts and getting helpful tips.

**Danni Danger: **Thanks so much for the review!

**Julieakaweirdo: **The tantrum will happen next chapter!

**LiliAnn Jackson: **I really did try to do Tony's POV just for you. But I just couldn't create anything good enough. Well…that and I have a horrible memory and can't remember some things from the movie. I've only found a couple clips on the Loki/Tony conversation scene (which is why that one has their whole conversation besides Tony offering Loki a drink) and that's about it. I've found a theater that still shows the Avengers but at this point I'd rather just buy the movie since its coming out soon. And thank you, you liking this story really means a lot to me. I too like the other Avengers stories, but I really don't have the talent to come up with my own super hero to incorporate into the original Avenger storyline. And I really needed to get comfortable writing romance and then this little idea popped up. I'm a little surprised at how much I like writing this small fluffy story.

**littleanjel: **Oh thank you! You saying that means a lot to me! I'll try to be quicker in updating, especially since I put out rather short chapters for this story, but I can't make any promises. I, like many other authors on this site, am not very reliable for consistent updates. But I'll always finish a story no matter how long it takes, I can at least promise you that.


	7. Chapter 7

The shrill scream tore painfully through my throat. The wind streaming past me whipped my hair into frenzy, blinding me and made my already overworked heart pump harder with panic. I desperately wished that I could just pass out now before I could end up as nothing more than a splatter on the concrete. But the adrenaline coursing throughout my body was keeping me awake and very much aware that I was falling to my death.

Yet, at the same time, nothing really registered at all. My body may be the one that was screaming and wishing desperately for a savior, but my mind was elsewhere. It was numbing everything, blocking out everything and wandering. I could still feel everything that was happening, but I just couldn't bring myself to care about it.

I began to focus on all the things I did in my life, or rather the things I didn't do. I should have fought harder; I should have pushed myself to become stronger, to conquer my sickness and actually do something with my life. But I didn't. I submitted myself to it. To what my parents had always told me. You are weak, they said, and terribly sick. You're not like your brother, and never will be. Try not to be too much of a bother.

And I listened to them. I didn't fight back. Didn't question them for a single second. They were my parents, and they always knew best. I was always in the background, watching as Tony struggled to live up to father's expectations. Watched as nothing was ever good enough for my father. That had only added to my low self esteem, if Tony was disappointing, and I believed he was pretty awesome and still do, then what did that mean for me?

No special talents. No genius gene. Average looking and incredibly short, even when I was young. Always sick in one way or another. Sometimes costing more money in medical bills then the materials used to build my father's weapons. I was prized only over the fact that I always did as I was told. I was the perfect little daughter, in that respect.

Tony's midnight chats were always the highlight of my childhood. Listening to him gush about new ideas fascinated me. Seeing his products evolve from a crude sketch, to a prototype, to the actual thing made life worthwhile for me. All simply because he _cared_, he _wanted_ to be with me; he _enjoyed_ spending time with me. And when JARVIS was made, well, I never knew I could love my brother even more but I did. He craved my attention like I craved his, because I always acknowledged his products and was always amazed.

But then, then I met Steve. The first person I've ever had the pleasure of meeting on my own. He's a little awkward and old fashioned, but then again so am I. I've only known him for, like, a _week_. And already I'm in love with the guy. That's it. That's why I always thought of him and was so hurt that he left! I, Emma Marie Stark am in love with Steve Rogers!

Now I know what I really should have done before all of this. I should _not _have run from Steve when I was in his apartment! I should have sucked up my tears and, and-! Well, gosh darn it I should have kissed the man! I should have at least had my first kiss before my demise! And I should have begged him not to go or at least get his number or something to keep in contact with him!

Alas, I did not. And here I am. About to die. Stupid Tony, getting that stupid demigod mad while he was _holding me by my neck_ was not a smart thing to do. Because right after that happened the plump man activated that weird machine with the cube (which made my ears ring painfully) and a beam shot up into the sky and opened a portal to, well, it seemed like hell.

A black abyss opened up in the sky and these aliens came out in hordes on hover bikes. Blasting away at the city and shooting my brother away. After that, things got hectic. The demigod laughed gleefully has his little minions wreaked havoc. Tony was shooting repulser rays every where, things were exploding, and then suddenly I'm being tossed into the air and off the building. The demigod, meanwhile, was fighting this big brutish looking blonde.

And that's why I'm currently plummeting to my death. And now, by thinking about it, my once numbed mind suddenly kick started and the panic really began. The scream rose in tempo, and my heart stuttered on a few beats. The ground was getting closer and closer, my eyes began to burn from the wind, and my throat ached. I began to close my eyes, not wanting to watch the ground any longer but something red and gold moved in my peripheral vision.

My eyes shot wide open and I let out a strangled gasp as pain flared up all along my left side and wrapped around my torso. "Gotcha." I struggled to reply to my brother but froze when something hot moved past my face. Tony cursed loudly and tucked my head to his chest, "Hold on tight and don't move!"

Doing as told I wrapped my arms around his neck and kept my head on his chest and tried to move as little as possible. Once he was sure I had a firm hold Tony released me and the tell tale whirl of his repulser rays starting up sounded. I tightened my hold and held in an undignified yelp when he began firing. I screwed my eyes closed when we began twisting and twirling in the air.

If I had thought I was going to die before, I was almost certain of it now! I don't know how long I stayed clinging to my brother for dear life, but the next time I opened my eyes we were hovering in the air and everything stilled as something huge and grotesque came through the portal. It looked like a cross between a turtle, a seal, and a centipede.

It looked strangely mechanical, with a large protective shell covering its entire body and at least a hundred fins acting as legs as it sort of swam through the sky. Its sides opened up and out poured more of the weird aliens. Some were on the hover bikes but most shot down from a line to the ground and wrecked havoc. "Emma,"

I looked up at my brother, but he wasn't looking at me, he was focused solely on the portal as more monsters filed out, "What do you say, should we get this party started?" He looked at me now, lifting the mask to smile toothily at me. I sighed, wishing he would set me down somewhere before getting back into the battle, but before I could voice it he cursed and his helmet slammed shut.

Then, before I knew it, we were swerving between buildings, dodging bullets (plasma bullets?), and killing aliens. Well, not me exactly but I was close enough to be considered part of the battle. Then, just like him and his impulsive nature, Tony decided to try and take on the monster. Even I, who has no prior battle experience of any kind, knew that there was no way we could ever hope to pierce the armor of that thing.

But either Tony didn't know or didn't care (the latter was more likely), he shot at it anyway. And, when its enormous lumbering head swiveled to peer at us I knew it was angry. And I also knew that this was exactly what Tony wanted. The thing turned, its back end smashing into the side of a building as it did so, and launched itself at us with surprising speed.

Tony cursed again for the third time and secured one arm around my waist as we shot forward to avoid it. We were able to get maybe ten meters between the thing, but that was as far as we could get. And even then it wasn't enough, the monster was gaining fast. Taking a peek over Tony's shoulder showed that the monster was indeed very angry, and I began to worry that we wouldn't be able to get away from it.

But I really shouldn't have. Tony always has a plan, even if that plan is put into action only five minutes after its creation. As we rounded the corner of one large building, the monster crashing into the side of another building behind us, there seemed to be a small group of people waiting for us. One man stood a ways away from the group, abandoning his motorcycle.

Tony passed the man, continuing on toward the group and hovered above them. I watched as the man began to morph. His clothes began to rip, he grew three feet taller, his muscles enlarged, and of all things he turned green. I was watching the Hulk transform. Wait… I was watching the Hulk transform! And then, just before my eyes, he smashed his fists into the monster's face, instantly killing it.

My jaw dropped at the blatant display of power. Hulk let out a roar of triumph and turned to us with a feral smile. I began to worry that he would attack us, as he had done to friends in the past, but it seems Bruce Banner has learned to control the Hulk because he only walked over to stand beside the rest of the group. I took this as my chance to look at the other members of, what I assume was, the Avengers.

To my and Tony's right there was a brunette man dressed all in black garb, a large bow in one hand and a set of arrows strapped to his back. Standing beside him was a woman also dressed in black with fiery red hair and guns strapped on either hip and another gripped firmly in her hand. On our left was that blonde that fought the demigod and was the reason I was thrown off the roof. He was dressed more simply than the other god, only a large chest plate and what appeared to be chain mail covering his torso and arms, a long red cape hooked on and a hammer in his right hand.

Beside him was Captain America. Wearing a more modern version of his old attire and a slightly redesigned helmet, his trusty shield strapped to his left forearm. And he certainly did not look to be much older then twenty three, if the physical state of his body was anything to go by. I stared at him in awe, Captain America. The Captain America! Oh how I had dreamed of meeting him from the moment I had heard father tell stories about him!

But, there was something strangely familiar about him. I couldn't have possibly met him before, could I? No, impossible. My over active mind is playing tricks on me. He turned, glancing up at Tony and I and froze. His eyes widened and his mouth opened in shock. What? Why is he staring at us like that? Have we done something wrong?

There was a loud roar making me I look up at the portal in the sky to see more of those ugly alien turtle/whale things drift down with more of the strange humanoid aliens. "Well, it looks like this fight is finally going to begin." Tony said a hint of excitement in his voice. Its official, my brother is insane if he's actually looking forward to this.

He shut of his thrusters to let us fall to the ground and grabbed me by the shoulders, "Listen to me Emma, you need to run now. Find some sort of cover, somewhere to stay safe. Okay? Can you do that?" I was a little miffed at him talking to me as if I were a child, but didn't argue with him. It was obvious I would be little help here, anywhere really. "But what about you?" I asked him, scared over the possibility of him getting hurt. He's all I have left now, if I lose him I lose everything.

He laughed lightly and flicked the side of my head gently, "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Just do as I said, I'll find you after this is all over." I grabbed his hand, "You promise?" I questioned, close to crying once again. He smiled, "Hey, I've never gone back on a promise to you right? Why would I start now?" It was a little reassuring so I nodded in consent, "Okay, I'll go."

He wrapped me a hug, "Good girl, now go before things get out of hand." He pushed me to get me going and after a few stumbled steps I took off at a run, briefly glancing at Captain America as I passed him. Dear Lord, please keep them all safe. Help them fight these aliens off. I want to live a little longer.

* * *

So here's the next update! Sorry for the how overdue this is, but my Senior Project is top priority right now. And now that the fist step in working on it is done and over with hopefully I'll be able to focus more on my other stories. If anyone would like to help me along with my Senior Project (its an original story) I'll leave the link to my FictionPress Account on my profile. Feel free to comment, they're not only helpful to me personally as a writer (and make me blush and giggle like an idiot) but I do need some sort of critique as documentation for the project.

Anyway, back to the main topic, thank you so much for reading! I don't know how many more chapters there's going to be, but I hope you all will stick with me until the end. Please leave a review with any and all of your thoughts. They're all appreciated!

**MyInkHeart: **I'm sorry for the late update! I struggled a little when writing this because I'm so focused on other things at the moment, I promise to try and get the next update up sometime soon!

**Neon Knightly: **Thank you so much for the review, its very much appreciated!

**Kurosaki224:** Am I getting better at the cliffhangers? Its such a special talent to have when writing stories. I hope you enjoy this!


	8. Chapter 8

It wasn't until I was already holed up in a building with dozens of other people did I realize Tony never really promised me that he would come back and find me. He had only said he had never broken a promise to me, and I hoped that the twisted feeling in the pit of my stomach didn't mean something horrible was going to happen to him. What would I do if something happened to my big brother? My knight in shinning red and gold armor?

He was my only family left and the only person to truly care about me. And what about Pepper? Or Rhodey? Oh they'd be devastated. Losing a lover, a best friend, that must truly be hard. Not only that, but I had a sneaking suspicion that Tony and Pepper wanted to get married, maybe not at present, but in the future for sure. It confuses me to no end that it took those two so long to finally get over their pride and admit that somewhere along the line they had fallen madly in love.

And what about Stark Enterprises? Who would take over that? I certainly couldn't, I have no talent for mechanics nor do I have any for business. Perhaps Pepper would take over? She certainly has the qualifications to do so, she practically runs it now. But then where would that leave me? I couldn't stay with Pepper; she's not even my friend. No, my only friend was gone now.

I slipped my phone out my pocket and simply stared at it, softly running my thumb across the glossy surface. I felt a new wave of pricks in my eyes and swallowed the lump forming in my throat. Would JARVIS ever be coming back? Was he dead? Tony could probably fix him, but would the new version still be _my_ JARVIS? Would he still be my dear friend? Or would he just be another machine?

My lip trembled, a sure sign of me about to cry, so I bit it to stop the needless quivering. I needed to be strong now, no more crying. I especially can't cry in front of all these people, even if no one knows me I'm still a Stark. And Starks never show weakness, they persevere and kick butt! Sniffling to clear my nose I sat straighter in my seat.

Shoulders back, chin up and my ankles crossed in a very lady like manner I tried to give off the same reserved and regal aura my mother once had. The image was probably ruined with my red rimmed eyes, slightly puffy face and wind whipped hair. But hey, I think I should get an A effort.

A couple feet away a child sat huddled against a pillar, bottom lip wobbling and eyes overflowing with tears. I stared at the girl for a moment, seeing myself. No one around spared her a glance, no one tried to quell her quiet sobs. She couldn't be more then five, yet she was here, in the middle of a battle of clashing worlds all alone. Just like how I have been for my entire life.

Standing, I made my way toward her and crouched down in front of her. Closer now I could hear her gasping sobs, she looked up at me with watery green eyes. "Hey, what's your name?" I asked in a soft voice, hoping she would trust me. She took in a shuddering breath, brushing back a lock of curly chocolate colored hair, "C-Charlotte."

I held out a hand to her, "Hello Charlotte, my name's Emma." She blinked at the gesture, but placed her hand in mine anyway. "Where are you parents Charlotte?" More tears welled, "They w-wouldn't wake up!" I didn't know how to calm her as she began to cry even harder, I didn't have much experience with emotions besides arrogance, curtsy of my brother.

But I know what I had always wanted when I was feeling just like her. Reaching forward I pulled her into a hug, she stiffened before she stared crying in earnest. Small arms wrapped tightly around my neck and hot tears soaked the front of my shirt. I rubbed small circles into her back and pulled her into my lap, rocking softly. A voluptuous blonde woman with a dirty waitress uniform glanced down at us briefly.

Her head cocked to the side and her brow furrowed, she looked as though she wanted to say something but in the end she decided not to and turned away, holding herself and hunching over. I frowned at this, why did no one care for this little girl? Why didn't they see if she was okay? Or try to comfort her? I had thought the majority of people weren't as careless as my parents, but I guess I was wrong.

It took Charlotte a good ten minutes to cry herself out, hiccups were all the bubbled out of her now. She leaned back to look up at me and I smiled at her, "Better now?" She shrugged in reply and laid her head against my chest. I rested my chin on top of her head and moved into a more comfortable position on the floor. Around us people finally began to talk, commenting about the Avengers fighting against the aliens.

"There's Ironman!"

"Oh man the Hulk is destroying everything!"

"I can't believe Captain America is back!"

"Who's that guy with the hammer?"

"Look at the red head go! She's on top of one of those bikes!"

I thought it was all rather stupid things to talk about. Were they not concerned about what was happening? This was a _war_, people were _dying_. Yet here they are, just, gushing about it! What was wrong with these people? Did they not understand the severity of this battle? If my brother and his teammates lose, our world would be over. That demigod would take over and we'd all be his slaves! Perhaps it was a good thing my parents isolated me from the rest of society, these people were idiots.

Then, in the middle of my internal ranting, the windows on the floor above us shattered, three aliens tumbling in. Chaos erupted, people screamed and made a made dash for the doors, trampling over each other in their haste. Charlotte let out a startled cry when a man tripped over us, hitting her shoulder and tossing us to the side. I stumbled to my feet and held her against me and she tightened her hold around my neck, beginning to cry once again.

The aliens shot down at us twice, killing a few people, and effectively cowing the frantic people. They corralled us into the center of the floor and talked amongst themselves, seeming to debate on what to do with us. One seemed very angry, making harsh gestures toward us with its gun. The other seemed calmer, shaking its head at what the other was saying. The third kept his gun pointed at us to keep us in line. Finally the angry one seemed to get its way, it made one last rough gesture toward us and the other conceded.

Walking to the railing it pointed its gun down toward us while the other fiddled with its suit. You don't have to be from a family that made mass weapons of destruction to know the device the alien unclipped from the complex belt it wore. It was very plain in design, nothing more then a silver cylinder but that didn't make it any less deadly. They were going to kill us all with a grenade, and there was nothing we could do about it.

But then, suddenly, something dressed in a very patriotic ensemble practically flew in and tackled one alien. The other two scrambled back out of view. We all stared up at the mezzanine with bated breath, wondering if we were saved. Over the railing an alien fell, I didn't know if it was dead or simply unconscious. Captain America reappeared briefly, but the last alien clamped onto his back and began to tear at his mask.

They stumbled back out of view and a deafening bang sounded, the bomb had finally gone off. We all stood in stunned silence, unsure of whether or not Captain America had won. Policemen surged inside then, shouting at us to leave. The crowd around me forced me forward and once again I was outside. If I thought the building was chaos then the streets of Manhattan were hell. The buildings were being torn apart; there were craters and cars on fire, blood and dead bodies everywhere, both human and alien. It was horrible.

I spotted the Captain with his back toward the doors of the building, the alien and torn his mask off and I could now see his short brown hair. He looked incredibly ragged and was standing in a way that was so familiar. He reminded me so much of-no. Preposterous, what am I thinking? There's no way that's him, my strained mind is playing tricks on me. Captain America couldn't possibly be…

He turned his head, a straight nose and strong jaw became visible, tired blue eyes that I knew so well. Sweet Baby Jesus, Captain America really is Steve? My crazy musings were right? Steve Rogers, my Steve, is the famed war hero Captain America? Doesn't that make him nearly a decade old? How in the…?

My mind was finding this sudden revelation hard to comprehend, so instead of pondering it any longer I did what I always had before, I ran away. Wait, no, I wasn't running away. I was just postponing this little situation for a later date. I mean, staying alive is much more important then Steve. Not to say Steve isn't important but-urgh! This is all just so confusing, it's making my head ache!

I'll confront this issue later (or maybe never, I haven't decided yet), right now I really need to take Charlotte somewhere safe, preferably somewhere far away and out of all this carnage. Yes, that sounded like a much better option. Turning away from Steve I tightened my hold on Charlotte and ran blindly down the street, searching for some sort of cover for the two of us.

It was terrifying, every where I went there were bombs going off and bullets being shot. People were falling (dying), the turtle/whale aliens were flying lower and lower, waves of the humanoid aliens were being deployed. Lightning, out of nowhere, was coming down and frying the aliens, spraying gore and shards of armor everywhere. The hover bikes were exploding in midair, nearly crushing Charlotte and I in a fiery inferno twice.

Charlotte, thankfully, didn't see most of it all. She hid her face in my shirt for the majority of the battle, but she could still here the shrieks of terror and cries of pain. There was nowhere to run too for cover, whenever I would spot something aliens would bombard it and it would always, _always_ blow up.

Sometime amidst all the terror something stopped me cold in my tracks. The twisted feeling was back, something big was about to happen. I looked up at Stark Tower, at the pillar of energy; it was going to be destroyed. I don't know how I knew but I did. A buzzing in the back of my skull told me someone was going to sacrifice their self to do it. And then when I saw my brother redirecting a missile of some sort up toward the portal it clicked.

My brother, he was going to do it. He was willing to die, we was going to become a martyr. When he disappeared inside the portal my breath fell short and I became frozen on the spot. Would he come back out? Was he gone forever? All around the aliens suddenly collapsed, a stunned silence consumed the entire city. Charlotte looked up and wiggled out of my grasp, sliding down to the floor and taking a hold of my hand.

I paid her no mind; I was focused solely on the shrinking portal. Where was my brother? Why hadn't he come out yet? It was becoming smaller and smaller, yet Tony still hadn't emerged. Just as it was about to disappear forever something small fell through, my brother! But why isn't he moving? Why hasn't he started his thrusters? "No, it-it can't… He couldn't have…."

I shook my head slowly as he continued to fall, this couldn't be happening. My brother can't just die. He's Tony Stark! The Ironman! He can't die! He just can't! The Hulk caught him and fell down to the ground with my brother in hand. I took a step forward, but a tug on my hand stopped me. Charlotte looked up at me panicked, clutching desperately to my hand.

With a start I realized that she was still under my care. I glanced back toward my brother and could see Steve, the blonde brute, and the Hulk crouched over my brother in the distance. I bit my lip when my brother just lay there lifelessly. Tears prickled at my eyes but I sucked it up and turned away, "Come on Charlotte, let's find some help." She nodded and pressed close to me as we walked toward the policemen a couple feet away.

* * *

Stupid school, stupid projects, stupid family life drama. It all keeps me from updating! Sorry for the long wait, but hopefully I haven't lost too many readers. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Please tell me any thoughts you may have had while reading this. Give me suggestions on what you want to see next, I'll try my best to make them come true.

**Lexicon04: **Thank you! I'm glad you like Emma, she's different from my other characters and is fun to write. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

**A Contradiction: **Ah yes, I'm nervous about writing that. Its going to be a major turning point for Emma. We'll see how it all plays out soon though!


	9. Chapter 9

The hours crawled by slowly. Charlotte and I were taken, as well as many other survivors, to town square where people crowded in the hopes of finding lost relatives, receive minor medical attention, and the news crew came to interview the survivors. Charlotte and I sat on a pile of rubble away from the crews and grieving faces, well I was sitting anyway. Charlotte was standing and searching the crowds to hopefully find a familiar face, she was hoping her grandfather would come for her.

After two hours of seeing Charlotte's face fall and the despair rise up I was getting ready to tell her no one was coming. "Charlotte…" I began, making her turn to me with glistening eyes. "Grandpa's not coming is he?" She asked. I bit my lip, I really didn't want to be the one to tell her this, "I don't think so." She sniffled and sat down beside me and we lapsed into silence, watching the few reuniting families.

"Where's your mama?" Charlotte asked suddenly. I stiffened and glanced down at her, "She left when I was young." Charlotte frowned, "What about your papa?" I sighed, "He's gone too." Charlotte pursed her lips and thought about this for a moment, "Like my parents?" I nodded, "Yeah, just like your parents."

"Why did you cry when Ironman fell?" I blinked and stared at her for a moment. I hadn't realized that I was crying then, but I guess I must have. "He's my, was my brother." I told her simply. Charlotte gasped loudly, "Ironman is your brother!" She gapped at me, seeing me in a bright new light. I couldn't help but laugh at her. Based on her expression I would say she has, had a little crush on my brother, it was adorable.

"Yes, Tony's my, was big brother." She squealed suddenly making me laugh harder. "Oh my gosh! Ironman is amazing! When he was fighting that scary guy he was like-like, oh my gosh! And then, then when he was fighting and the lights came out and it was all 'shaaaaa'!" She leaped up, making wild hand gestures and reenacting Tony's past battles.

She was in the middle of one impressive fight scene that required a lot of jumping and arm waving when someone called her name. Charlotte's head snapped up and she looked around wildly before finding the man, "Grandpa!" She cried, running toward a man I had seen many times before. "Mr. Perkins?" I asked, standing as well and following Charlotte.

She leaped into her Grandfather's arms, the two holding each other tightly. Mr. Perkins looked up at me gratefully, "You took care of her during the…" He waved his hand around, not sure what to call the battle. I nodded, "Yeah, she was all alone her parents were, you know." A pained expression overcame him and he took a steadying breath, "I see, but at least Charlotte is okay."

He smiled down at her and Charlotte shot him a toothy smile. "Why are you here Emma? Shouldn't you be at Stark Tower or with Tony?" I kept the tears at bay and smiled softly, "Oh I was, I was just on my way over. I just wanted to be sure Charlotte was safe." He nodded to me, "Right, well thank you Emma." He set Charlotte on the ground and held her hand; she waved with her free hand goodbye, "Bye Emma!" I waved back saying a soft goodbye.

Once they disappeared in the throng of people I let my hand fall. I glanced around at the people surrounding me, idly wondering if what I saw was wrong. Maybe Tony was fine, maybe he wasn't dead. He could be perfectly fine, he could be on his way to town square right at this very moment! Or, maybe, what I had seen was right and he's dead.

Well, seeing how three hours have passed and there's no word on the state of any of the Avengers I guess its safe to assume my brother is either dead or seriously injured. I didn't know how I felt about this. It hurt yes, but I couldn't break down now. I had made the decision to become stronger; I would only break apart in my own home, not in public.

I shut my eyes and took a steadying breath, perhaps thinking isn't the best thing for me to do right now. With a sigh I turned to begin my long trek back to Stark Tower. On my way out of Time Square I spotted the blonde from earlier talking to one news crew, smiling to herself and shuffling her feet in embarrassment. She was pretty, despite her current ragged state.

Golden curled hair falling out of its pin, an oval face with high cheek bones, and a fair complexion. Her waitress uniform fit snugly against her curves, accentuating her very womanly body. It was a little ridiculous how good she looked, just how was it possible? Even the dark smudges of dirt and grime on her cheeks were appealing. Ridiculous I tell you, absolutely ridiculous.

Thankfully none of the news crews tried to stop me on my way out (they were awfully forceful, thrusting microphones into people's faces and riddling them with questions) and I was really able to see the full extent of the damage done to the city.

It was in shambles. The roads were a mess, deep craters littered the ground, and most of the buildings were intact though many had chunks torn out of them, shattered glass was everywhere. Police vans were being loaded up with the aliens and hover bikes, ambulances took all the human bodies. Firefighters were extinguishing the fires and searching the buildings for more survivors.

And the smell, oh it was horrible. There are no words to describe it, it was just vile. It would take months to repair the city, maybe even years. Where would the people that lost their homes be put? Would they be provided temporary homes? How many would leave the city in favor of someplace less likely to be torn apart (like Fresno or North Dakota, the weird boring places)? But no, things like this just _have _to happen in big cities!

In the distance I could see Stark Tower, it didn't look to bad. I mean sure the label was missing a few letters but it was still standing. No giant chunks missing, it hardly looked touched at all when compared with the crumpled buildings surrounding it. Which, I guess, makes sense because it did have that weird cube that made the portal, the aliens must have protected it. And the Avengers were busy fighting the ones in the city and saving people.

I sighed to myself; this day was just so messed up. To think that just yesterday my biggest problem was that a new friend was leaving me and now I have to plan my brother's funeral. This has been, by far, the worst day of my life. What's going to happen next? Am I going to -I spotted a small shawarma restaurant that Tony had been bugging to eat at- to see a, a god eating shawarma? Or how about a war hero? A man with anger issues? Two assassins? A ghost? Not likely.

"Emma!"

I froze at the familiar voice and squeaked when someone brought me into a hug, lifting me a couple inches off the ground, and nuzzled my face. Once I was safely on the ground I turned to see just the people I was sarcastically thinking about. Just my luck right? I think one thing about a couple people and then they appear out of no where! Like, like that saying! 'Speak of the devil' and other such nonsense. And then Tony just _has_ to nearly give me a heart attack by jumping out of….

The thought trailed away as I began to process what was happening and just who was standing in front of me. "Tony?" Said brother smiled widely and put one hand on my shoulder, "Told you I'd find you after." He said simply. The tears were falling before I could stop them, all past promises to become stronger forgotten, my brother was alive!

I threw my arms around him, startling him a great deal, and wept. And, just like he always had before, he panicked. Stuttering a few words and awkwardly patting my back as I clung to him desperately. He never was good at comforting others, especially girls. Being cocky and making others laugh at his witty humor is generally all the emotions he can handle. But at least now he attempts to soothe me, when we were younger he would freeze up and just stare at me while I cried.

"He-hey now calm down. Come on Emma, you know I'm not good at this. Why are you crying?" Tony asked, pushing me away to see my face and bending over to be more eye level with me. I sniffed loudly, rubbing my eyes and taking deep breaths to calm myself. When I talked it was interrupted with gasping breaths and hiccups, "I thought you were dead!"

He frowned, "Why would you think I was-oh. You saw that?" I nodded, still not under complete control of my breath, "You weren't moving and they were just staring at you and, and then I had to take Charlotte away and-!" I started crying all over again. Tony smoothed my hair and glanced back at his staring friends a little desperately.

The huge blonde stepped forward, "Calm little human! Everything is fine now!" I stared up at him remembering the brute distinctly, "You're the reason that guy threw me off the roof." I told him, making Tony's head snap up, "He what?" Tony demanded loudly.

The brute looked sheepish, "Loki and I were fighting Man of Iron! She got…misplaced." Tony narrowed his eyes, surely about to talk rudely to the brute when the red head stepped forward, "Alright, that's enough. Stark, who is this girl?" Tony scoffed, "Oh, you mean you don't know Miss Master Spy? She's my sister."

The woman's eyebrows shot up, "Your sister? But, how? There was nothing in your files that said you had a sibling." Tony scoffed, "Yeah well, daddy dearest did keep her under wraps…" He tapped his fingers against my head (he didn't move his hand when touching my hair) letting me know that he never approved of what father did when concerning me.

"Hey, who's Charlotte?" Tony suddenly asked. I rubbed at my still blurry eyes as I answered, "She's Mr. Perkin's granddaughter-the security guard at the front desk in the lobby-she was all alone when I found her so I kept her safe…" I trailed off as my eye wandered over the group and settled on Steve. He looked positively dreadful. He, like the majority of the team excluding my brother, was still in his suit but it was torn and bloodied.

His hair was askew and his mask was no where to be seen. He was clutching his right side and his face was in a grimace of pain. There was a faint splotching of blood around the area he was holding and his eyes were trained firmly on the ground. Without thinking I stepped toward him, missing my brother's raised eyebrow at me, and laid a hand softly on his shoulder.

"Steve, are you okay? Did you get hurt?" His head jerked up and he stared at me in surprise, eyes shooting over my head toward my brother before focusing back on me. "Ah, yes, yeah," He cleared his throat nervously and glanced up at the others. I looked up at him skeptically, "Are you sure Steve?" He took a hold of my hand and squeezed it reassuringly; this time keeping his eyes settled on my own, "Yes, I'm fine Emma." A small smile on his lips.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait. Please don't tell me this," Tony interjected and pointed a finger at Steve, "Is your mystery man? Please, just tell me I'm wrong for just this once." He looked to be mildly irritated at the prospect of my relationship with Steve and I didn't want to anger my brother so I stood there silently. However the silence was enough for my brother to interpret.

He made a disgruntled noise and began to mumble to himself, shaking his head every now and then. Alarmed by my bother's negative reaction I froze, similar to how Tony is unable to handle me when I cry I am unable to handle him when he gets angry. I always lock up and let him yell, sometimes at me, and then he would usually end up storming off, cursing all the while. I never told him how much he scared me when he got angry, about how much he would resemble dad.

No, saying that would make him hate me. But there's no denying the fact that he _is_ just like dad when mad. Sure he can act like a petulant child _now_ when he's mildly upset. But no one ever saw Tony when he was truly angry. That only happened when he and our parents would get into fights, or when he became very annoyed with my…well everything about me really.

He was always told to take care of me, and though he was fine with doing it for the most part, I was still an unwanted responsibility thrust upon him since I was born. My sickness got in the way of many mile stones in his career and my inability to function around people can be very annoying, to even me. It really is a wonder how he has tolerated me for so long.

Tony stopped his pacing and headshaking and took in a deep breath to calm himself. He nodded his head a couple times before turning back to us, "Well then, I'm tired. I'm going home, come on Emma." I blinked when my brother swiftly turned on his heel and strode off, I glanced back up at Steve and then to the other Avengers, "Goodbye then…" I said in a small voice before running to catch up with my brother.

It was a tense and silent walk. I stayed ten paces behind Tony so as to not aggravate him anymore and wondered if we would be on better terms in the near future. When we were inside the building and found that the elevator was disabled the atmosphere became even worse, his annoyance made the space surrounding us uncomfortable and hard to breathe in.

We turned toward the stairs to begin our long trek up past the work floors and to our house floors. This part really killed me. Exercising isn't my forte; I'm quick to tire and am susceptible to dizzy spells or even fainting. Pathetic yes I know, but I really can't help it. Tony, on the other hand, is rather fit. It was mostly for the ladies, to "give them something nice to look at" as he once said. But now it's mostly so he can keep up his escapades as Ironman.

I was good for the first four flights (which surprised me a great deal, I had expected to pass out by the second flight), we weren't in any hurry so I was able to take my time, but after that it became apparent that I would be sleeping on the stairs. Once I reached the flat between the ninth and tenth flight I laid down and began to get comfortable, catching my breath and letting my heart calm down.

There was absolutely no way I would be able to do seventy-something more flights. I'm just not fit enough for it, and I was absolutely exhausted from the events earlier today. Choked, thrown out a building, dragged around a battlefield, held hostage, emotionally distressed with my brother's apparent hate toward Steve. It was just not a good day.

Tony was ahead of me by about three flights, but once the echo of my footsteps faded away he paused and glanced back at me over his shoulder. "What are you doing?" He finally asked after staring at me for a moment. I shrugged and curled up, resting my head on my arm and closed my eyes. The soft tapping of his feet began again, but they weren't getting fainter, they were getting louder.

Cracking an eye open I watched as my brother came closer to me. Once he reached the bottom of the tenth floor he sat down on the steps with a sigh. Now I could see how tired my dear brother was. He had dark bags under his eyes, bruises forming all along his face and body. His shoulders sagged heavily and every breath he took seemed to pain him.

He was a sad sight to look at. So young yet he had so much responsibility. And now, now people will start to hate him again like they did the past couple times Ironman was in a fight. He'll be bombarded with the media and once again the government officials Rhodey can't scare off will harass him for new weapons. They'll begin to discredit his accomplishments in his renewable energy research and try to crush Stark Industries again.

We stayed in relative silence for nearly a half hour. It's been so long since it was just us together, he would always have a party to go to-a lady to charm and seduce-and I would always be sick in bed, our lifestyles clashed so greatly together. Its no surprise people never believe we're related, I am everything Tony hates in a person (especially women, he tends to like them to be upfront and confident, which I clearly am not).

Sitting up I scooted over to my brother and laid my head on his lap. His hands came up instantly and he softly stroked my hair, just like he would do when we were younger. When I wasn't sick in the hospital and when he wasn't stuck in tutoring. When it was a simpler life and we could hide a way in the early hours of the morning, rambling about nothing yet everything at the same time.

When we sought comfort in each other and not the company of alcohol and women or sketches and fabricated friends. When had we become so out of tune with each other? When had I been left behind in the dark? When did I become unneeded?

I shut my eyes, a weak attempt at combating the horrible thoughts, and instead focused on my brother's soft strokes. This would be the last time we would be like this. This would be our last fleeting moment of needing each other. Once Pepper returned Tony would redirect his attention once again, they would start a family of their own (even if both denied it, its obvious it'll happen soon) and they'll be happy.

However, until the inevitable arrives there's still just me and my brother, and that's enough for me.

* * *

Sorry for the late update, I'm working on editing all of my stories so updating will be even slower then normal (yes I know I'm horrible)

**AlwaysSmile-NeverCry: **Alas most of my updates are quite short. In my head they seem longer, but on paper...not so much. I am working on that though. I'm forcing myself to write at least 7 pages per chapter (this is only 3 3/4) so hopefully longer chapters will come more naturally to me in the near future.

**BeautifulMisery7: **Thank you for enjoying and reviewing!


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